(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to inspection instrument and more particularly, to one that tests Brix scale and measures weight of fruits.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
In Taiwan R&D results on the production of top quality fruits are very impressive, and significant achievements have been reported in species modifications, or in culture technology improvement; however, quality testing and measuring technologies commonly practiced by fruit growers today in Taiwan remain focusing on the ratings of size and appearance without analyzing those factors affecting internal quality of the fruits, namely, containment of compositions of quality, Brix, acidity, amino acid, and vitamins.
Furthermore, use of manual inspection of the exterior quality of agricultural products so to decide on ratings and selling prices not only consumes lengthy time, efforts, and high cost, but also fails to judge internal quality, e.g., Brix, of the agricultural products. As a result, there exists excessively great difference between the rating and the actual quality. Thought there are non-destructive on-line testing application systems for fruits generally available in the market, they are too expensive (e.g., one system may be sold at NT$40M up to NT$50M) and they get too complicated in measuring the Brix of fruits. First, the fruit must be put in a juicer before fetching a drop of the fruit juice with a burette to drop on a refractometer to determine the sugar containment (° Brix). Whereas those Brix testing instruments generally available in the market are related to destructive testing methods since the fruit must be first put into a juicer before conducting the Brix measurement, they are not applicable to the site where non-destructive Brix testing and rating, and thus their practicability is restricted. This warrants development of a summary non-destructive application system for testing quality of fruits.